As I was rushing through the tall grass I spotted four beasts feasting over a carcass.

They were more than twenty meters away from my position.

While sensing their crunching noises, I got closer, until I could perceive their appearances.

They were reptile like beasts, these lizards were at least 1,5 metres long. Red scales engulfed their bodies that ended in a long spiked tail.

Every so often they flicked their tongues, my stealth perk should help me to stay hidden for now.

As I got ten metres from their location one of them raised its head, flicking vigorously.

It probably started to sense something strange in the air, but I already started to act.

I lunged forward, leaping over to one of the beasts still unaware of my presence.

Quickly I empowered my tail and lacerated the left eye of the beast.

I then entangled the scaly neck of the beast with my tendrils, squeezing it as hard as I could.

Blood started to spurt out from its eyes, as my claws started to ravage even the right one.

GROWL

The beast previous stunned with pain started to madly run around, trying to let go of my powerful hold on its neck.

Seeing this I infused more nano-energy onto the tendrils, which started to intensively glow of a rainbow coloured light.

The other three lizards started to tail on the blood trail left from the desperate rush of their companion.

Then I started to much on the hard scales of the beast, while dropping copious amounts of my acid saliva.

The defensive layer of its head started to

diminish as I enhanced my tail and impaled the skull of the lizard.

[Beast killed, 150 MP Gained]

As this message appeared again inside my head I decided to turn this thing off. No more distractions until the end of my hunt.

Then I jumped off the corpse of the beast, leaping over to one of the other lizards.

My next target was the one that almost spotted my initial ambush, it clearly was the strongest of the group.

As it saw me it erected itself in a bipedal position, showing a row of glowing sharp teeth.

Still in mid air I rolled my body into a ball, focusing my momentum on my tail.

We clashed creating a loud bang, as the lizard tried to sustain the blunt impact of our clash, its legs started to shake.

The skin covering my tail started to slowly burn, It seems like the beast is capable of rending its teeth extremely hot.

Then I unwrapped my tendrils and shaped them to form long fibres.

With them I started to whip the beast on its face, focusing on its forehead.

As our fight developed the other two lizards started to approach our fight.

Seeing their companion in a hard commitment the leaped towards me, their mouth wide open.

Suddenly, perceiving their presence, I stopped whipping on the beast to focus my tendrils in forming two cylindrical forms.

It sure hurt, I could feel their hot teeth penetrating the tendrils that I used as meat shields.

But in the end what I suffered the most was pain, as the tendrils where more of a muscular part of my body.

Thus they weren't a fundamental organ, they neither were a sensory organ. As for their bizarre colour I think that it's due to their high capability to channel nano-energy.

Seeing all of them close enough, infusing my voice I let out a powerful shriek.

KIIIEEEEEK!!

Soon after, the lizard momentarily stunned let go on the powerful hold of my tail, which emanated a particular burnt fragrance.

Freed it from the beast's jaw I hurriedly perforated its skull with my newly enhanced tail.

Hitting on the spot that I previously weakened with my tendrils.

After the scream I felt my tendrils being free too.

This move seemed rather effective in closed ranges, as I could momentarily shut down my auditory senses, avoiding for it to backfire me.

I then quickly wrapped my bleeding tendrils around the neck of the lizard on my right flank.

Soon after I infused my legs and leaped on its back, I then softened its head and impaled it with my tail.

The survival instincts of the remaining lizard kicked in, as it started to run in fear.

Suspecting it to be escaping toward its nest, I rapidly put the corpses into my space and started to tail behind beast.

I clearly needed to rest my body, as my tendrils coiling around my forearms were still bleeding a purplish liquid, and were still hurting.

My tail was badly burnt too, but I absolutely wanted to discover the lizards nest.

In my head I was already anticipating the big and succulent prey that was leading all the lizards.

After more than ten minutes we arrived before a really small hill, more or less thirty metres tall.

But in the middle of it there was something similar to the entrance of the cave, seemingly stretching deeper underground.

At the entrance there were positioned two lizards, relatively bulkier and bigger than the ones I had just killed.

They were clearly guarding the entrance. Appointing the actual location of the nest, I quickly turned around to find a place to eat and rest.

It seems like these beasts are diurnal creatures. There will surely be surveillance even at night but I think that they will generally be more tired.

Perhaps a good number of the beasts inside will even be aspleep.

More than a hundred meters from the hill I found a little area with smaller grass and decided to rest here.

I took out the three carcasses stored in my space before starting to avidly devour them.

After my hearty meal I leaned over the ground and put my body into torpor, still maintaining my senses active.

This precaution obviously couldn't function as my normal sensing abilities. As I couldn't focus particularly well.

Thus a few hours after I sensed danger quickly approaching my position, less than three meters away from me.

I rapidly reacted, shielding my head with rows of luminescent tendrils.

KIEEK

I felt my newly healed tendrils being pierced from what seemed to be long claws.

Increasing my senses I finally perceived the assailant, clearly a feline like beast.

It was smaller then the two tailed one I previously killed. But it had long claws and a short black fur all over its body.

It clearly blended well with the darkness that surrounded us.

Only Its bright yellow eyes were clearly visible.

Nonetheless increasing the amount of

nano-energy directed to my visual senses I could clearly perceive it.

As it penetrated even more into my tendrils, I forced them to coil around the beast's front legs.

Soon after I enhanced my tail, piercing its soft belly.

About five minutes of struggles later the beast died.

Before continuing my nap I preserved its fur and ate their corpse, I have to say that with this body eating raw meat isn't as bad is it seemed.

Maybe on my next hunts I should try to cook my prey too.

A few hours later I woke up from the intense pain provoked by the changes that was undergoing my body.

I gritted my teeth and waited for it to stop.

As night fell the pain faded and I started to analyse my new aspect.

First of all my height increased again, as I was now 2.5 meters tall.

My muscle density not only increased but my overall physique got bulkier too. Thus now I didn't seem as skinny as before, I clearly had a shredded musculature.

My skin colour got even more dark, it was now more of a pitch black colour.

I had now a row of dark claws on my feet too.

The blade at the end of my tail was now of a purely bony material, it was of a translucent black, I could sense it reflecting the moonlight.

I sensed a peculiar change in my tendrils too. Not only they became longer, but now I could change the shape of their tips too.

Checking over my status I quickly confirmed my stage advancement.

As the prompt under my rank changed in

[Stage: Adult].

Gotten a grasp over my new changes, I stretched my body a bit.

Since I did grow half a meter, and now I needed to get used to my new height.

Then I activated my stealth perk and in a quadrupedal position I headed towards the lizard's nest.